Wardrobes and closet systems
Wardrobes and closet systems age just like kitchen cabinets, but they rarely get updated because they hide behind a bedroom door. Kitchener Elite Cabinet Painting & Refinishing paints built-in wardrobes, walk-in closet systems, reach-in closet cabinetry and bedroom storage walls for homeowners across Kitchener, Waterloo and Guelph.
Bedrooms call for a different approach than kitchens. The coatings have to be low odour so you can sleep nearby, the schedule has to fit around your routine, and the wear comes from scuffing shoes, sliding hangers and doors opened dozens of times a day.
Over 16 years and more than 1,700 jobs we have painted melamine closet organizers, IKEA PAX wardrobes and the wood frames around mirrored doors. Most closet and wardrobe jobs take 2 to 4 days and cost $900 to $2,800 before HST.
Materials
Most closet systems can be painted, but not all of them should be. The deciding factor is the surface: intact melamine and wood paint beautifully, while peeling foil, swollen particleboard and wire shelving do not.
This is how we handle the closet materials we see in Waterloo Region homes:
| Material | Can we paint it? | How |
|---|---|---|
| Melamine closet organizers | Yes, if intact | Scuff sand, INSL-X STIX bonding primer, adhesion test patch |
| IKEA PAX frames and doors | Yes, for most finishes | Bonding primer and a test patch on one door first |
| Solid wood and MDF wardrobes | Yes | Degrease, sand, prime; MDF edges sealed twice |
| Thermofoil doors | Case by case | Only if the foil is fully bonded with no bubbling |
| Swollen or chipped particleboard | No | Repair or replace the panel first |
| Wire shelving | No | Replace it with melamine or wood shelving instead |
PAX owners can read more on our IKEA cabinet painting page, and foil-wrapped doors are covered on our painting thermofoil cabinets page.
Where closets wear
Closets wear out from the bottom up and from the inside out. Shoes scuff the toe-kicks and lower shelves, hangers rub the rod brackets, and the shelf fronts chip where laundry baskets bump them.
These are the areas we pay the most attention to:
Satin at about 25 to 35% gloss is the best balance for closets, since it wipes clean and hides small dents. On the busiest shelves we take extra care with sanding and coat thickness, because the finish needs about 30 days to reach full hardness.
Walk-ins
A walk-in closet makeover is mostly paint and hardware, and the change is bigger than most people expect. A plain white melamine system painted in a warm colour with brass hardware feels like a custom dressing room.
Drawer fronts and removable shelves go to our booth for two coats of Renner 2K, the hardest finish we apply. Fixed towers, shelf supports and the island are sprayed in place with Benjamin Moore ADVANCE, matched in colour and sheen.
Adjustable shelves are numbered so they go back exactly where they were.
Swapping knobs for pulls, filling old holes and fitting soft-close hinges are handled through our cabinet hardware upgrades. Installing your pulls and knobs is $4 per piece, and new or filled holes are $6 each.
Closet rods can be swapped for brass or black ones you have chosen while the system is apart.
Sleep-friendly
All of our topcoats are waterborne and low odour, which is why most families stay home and sleep in the house throughout a closet job. They meet the federal VOC limits for architectural coatings under SOR/2009-264.
Low odour is not the same as no odour, so we manage the air as well as the product:
On spray days we suggest keeping the bedroom door closed and a window open a crack. Most people find the room comfortable by bedtime, and anyone sensitive to smells can sleep in another room for one night.
One room at a time
We paint closets one room at a time, so you always have somewhere to sleep and dress. A single wardrobe or walk-in usually takes 2 to 4 days, with our crew in your home for 2 to 3 of them.
The stages match the rest of our work, described in full on our cabinet painting process page.
Clothes, shoes and bins come out before day 1. Many people use a rolling rack in another room for the few days the closet is out of use.
We protect the floor, label every door, drawer front and hinge, and take them to our shop. The boxes are degreased, sanded and primed the same day.
The closet carcass and fixed shelves are sprayed inside zip walls. The rest of the bedroom stays usable, with the closet sealed off.
Doors go back on after at least 24 to 48 hours of curing, hinges and sliders are adjusted, and we walk through the care sheet with you.
Pricing
Closet and wardrobe painting costs $900 to $2,800 before HST for most bedrooms. A single reach-in closet sits near the low end, and a large walk-in with drawer banks and an island sits near the top.
Tall doors, many drawers and melamine prep raise the price, and adding a second bedroom in the same visit is the easiest way to get more for your money. Our cabinet painting price guide explains every line on the quote.
FAQ
Bedroom jobs raise their own questions, mostly about sleep, mirrors and flat-pack wardrobes.
Yes, for most PAX finishes. We scuff sand, apply INSL-X STIX bonding primer and test one door first, then spray the doors in our shop and the frames in place.
Usually, yes. Our topcoats are waterborne and low odour, the doors are sprayed in our shop, and the closet is sealed with zip walls on spray day, but sensitive sleepers may prefer another room for that one night.
Yes, when the frames are wood or MDF. The mirror is masked tight to the frame, and the glass is never sanded or painted, while aluminum-framed sliding mirror doors are quoted case by case.
Yes. Louvred bifolds are sprayed in our booth, which is the only way to coat every slat evenly without drips, and the pivots and track are reinstalled and adjusted.
Yes, please. Clothes, shoes and bins need to come out before day 1 so we can reach every shelf and protect your belongings from dust.
Free quote
Send us a photo of the closet or wardrobe with the doors open and one close-up of the shelf edges, and we will reply with a fixed written price within 1 business day. Tell us whether it is melamine, IKEA PAX or wood so we can plan the primer.